ALL-AREA: Hill School's Fabian named boys soccer Player of the Year

Wyatt Fabian doesn’t play the flute. But if you ask Hill School boys soccer coach Chris Drowne about his standout junior center back, Fabian has made music on and off the soccer field since becoming a Blue.

“He is everything you would want to build, highlight and celebrate in your soccer program,” Drowne said. “He’s been a pied piper for us, not just in terms of teams wanting us on their schedule, other guys from club teams see Wyatt and are academic-minded see him and want that, too.”

Fabian’s tune isn’t rooted in bringing more players to The Hill or elevating the schedule – that’s just a byproduct. His song is about being team-first, being the best he can be every time out and hopefully helping his teammates be their best each time out, too.

It’s a mentality that paid off in a big way this fall when Fabian led the Blues to their second straight Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship, clinched in a 1-0 shutout of archrival Lawrenceville, a runner-up finish in the Pa. Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament and a 16-3-1 record.

Fabian’s skill, confidence and program-elevating play enabled the Blues to match a school record with 14 shutouts, netting him unanimous selection to the All-MAPL first team and now The Mercury’s All-Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year honor.

It was a season full of high points for Fabian, none sweeter than the late-season now-or-never games The Hill faced.

“Highlight of the year was beating Lawrenceville. That was a big one,” Fabian said. “The run through states was a big high for us. Last year we got through to the final and lost to Haverford so we were really pushing to get back to that point. That whole process of trying to get the MAPL two-peat and getting the state championship was exciting.”

The Hill’s rise in the last two years is in line with Fabian’s ascent in his time on the team and his development as a player. Fabian, whose family lives in Sinking Spring, came to The Hill as a freshman with plenty of talent, but wasn’t immediately the standout he is today.

“I’ve had three great years here, three years that I’m lucky to have the guys that I have around me,” he said. “As a freshman, that year wasn’t my best season. I was just trying to get in the groove of high school soccer. But my second year I was getting better with age and this year was definitely my best year personally and skill-wise, and also becoming more of a leader, which felt natural with age, becoming a bigger and bigger part of the team.”

Drowne recognized Fabian’s ability to lead early on, even as a bit of an on-field assistant coach.

“If boys are visual learners I can talk and explain things,” Drowne said, “but when they see Wyatt do it in training and in matches, it isn’t abstract.”

Fabian has found a great deal of success at the club level, currently as a member of Lehigh Valley United after beginning his club play with Reading Rage.

“(Lehigh Valley United) has won the last six club state cups and I’ve been a part of four of them,” he said. “My (Hill) teammates Shaun Quinn and Colten Habecker are also members of that team. We’ve had a successful four years. We’ve won two regional championships, which qualified us for nationals, and last year we finished third, just missing out on the national championship game, so we’re playing at a really high level. It’s a great experience.”

Whereas some high-level club teams can be merely a collection of individuals, as opposed to a true cohesive team, that isn’t the case at Lehigh Valley thanks in large part to Fabian. But he’s even closer with his Hill teammates, considering they live together at the prep school.

“I’m more of a leader and standout here, but as far as my playing style, I try to stay the same,” Fabian said. “I try to bring the level of my club team here and vice versa. We’re really close. It’s just like the atmosphere here. We’re a boarding school, we live with each, we see each other every day. I really think that helps us out on the field. We know each other inside and out.”

On the surface, Fabian’s team-first mentality is evident. But drill deeper and you’ll see his philosophy has a lot to do with being a complete player – defenders don’t just defend, strikers don’t just score goals.

It’s why his goal was to improve his offensive play as a junior, even from his center back position.

“(I used the offseason to work on) the offensive part of being a defender,” he said. “Once I do take the ball from someone I need to distribute it to a teammate where they’re not in danger or maybe even make a play up field. My distributing and my play out of the back has gotten a lot better.”

It’s also why he doesn’t view Hill’s school-record tying shutout mark of 14 as just a source of pride for the defense.

“It’s a source of pride for the whole team. We outworked our opponents,” Fabian said. “From Joey (Monzo) and Colten (Habecker) up top running at (the opponent’s) backs and tracking back and (goalkeeper) Shaun (Quinn) in the back coming up with saves when we needed, it was a confidence boost to everyone.”

Fabian was the glue to make that possible.

“Wyatt was the only thing constant in the back line,” coach Drowne said. “Patrick Kearon moved from right back to the center, we had a brand new goalie (Quinn) and the other backs were converted midfielders. So at the beginning it wasn’t a statistical conversation. The team took real pride in not only not giving up goals, but not giving up scoring opportunities. Wyatt and his crew were chasing something beyond numbers, but a dominant performance.”

There were plenty along the way, but the most satisfying was the 1-0 win over Lawrenceville, Hill fending off early pressure to get a goal from Monzo before Fabian and company saw the lead through to the final whistle and their eighth straight shutout.

“It was a heated game,” Fabian recalled. “We were probably favored going into it, but it’s a rivalry with the championship on the line and a good-sized crowd there all that added pressure. I remember coming out a little nervous and they came out with a nothing-to-lose mentality and they were really on us from the start. But once we got the goal we kind of broke them. We did well. You’re not going win a Lawrenceville game by a lot. It was all about coming out with the win.”

Just finding a way to win is the nature of any playoff scenario, and it’s a format Fabian and his teammates have embraced thanks to the opportunity of playing in the PAISAA tournament.

Last year, the first year of the private school playoff tournament, was one of a number of changes for The Hill boys, which Fabian promoted to elevate the program’s level.

“We talked to coach Drowne and wanted to schedule ramped up a bit,” he said. “We added St. Benedict’s (N.J.) and other new teams and then we had the state tournament, which we really look forward to.”

Even though the results in the team’s second trip to the PAISAA tourney ended no different than the year before – making it to the final before falling to Haverford School – there’s good news for The Hill.

They’ve got another crack at it next year, with their pied piper once again leading the march.